Sikh community remembers Wisconsin massacre with green thumbs

By Minh Dam |
August 3, 2013

Inderpal Singh Gumer, 70, joined fellow Sikhs at Dodson Elementary to clean and care for the school's garden.

Photo By Minh D. Dam

Inderpal Singh Gumer, 70, joined fellow Sikhs at Dodson Elementary to clean and care for the school's garden.

Photo By Minh D. Dam

At left, Gahven Singh, 6, helps his mother Manpreet Singh paint new signs to display the vegetables growing in the garden.
Below: Houston Sikh Coalition members Chan Preet Kang, left, Mahnek Singh and Paramjeet Birring clean weeds out of the garden at Dodson Elementary on Saturday. The group organized their service project in conjunction with other local projects in Detroit, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Sacramento.

A group of Houston Sikhs spent Saturday remembering the first anniversary of the fatal shooting of six worshipers in a Wisconsin temple by giving back to the local community.

Dozens of volunteers, with help from the nonprofit organization Urban Harvest, spent the afternoon cleaning, weeding and watering a small garden at Dodson Elementary.

"Since we lost six lives in our American community, the best way to breathe in life would be to plant and work with nature," said Manpreet Singh, a local Sikh Coalition member. "We really believe that all of us are one and there's God in everything including plants."

Those who braved the intense heat were rewarded with cantaloupes from the garden. They honored the Oak Creek Sikhs that died a year ago, but also had fellow Sikhs nationwide on their minds.

Sikhs in New York, California, Michigan and Texas all engaged in the National Day of Seva, roughly translated as selfless service, to remember those killed in the tragedy. Community service events were held in solidarity with Oak Creek's 6K Memorial Run and Walk, also on Saturday.

On Aug. 5, 2012, Wade Michael Page, who had ties to white supremacist groups, walked into the Oak Creek gurdwara, or Sikh place of worship, and opened fire. He killed six people and wounded five others before he fatally shot himself.

"When that happened, it affected us just as it would've affected us if it was our cousin or uncle or brother," Singh said. "We felt that same pain because we're such a tight-knit community."

Singh believes the best way to deal with the shooting is to keep a positive attitude and to not let fear rule their decisions.

"What we've done is now open our doors even wider to educate people as to who we are," Singh said. "That way it kind of gets rid of that ignorance or eliminates that hate. We actually invite people in instead of get worried about the people that are walking in. It's part of our religion."